State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Increases Position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,005,711 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,735 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.5% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.06% of AbbVie worth $155,855,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Syon Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 16,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,531,000 after acquiring an additional 4,962 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 20,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,147,000 after acquiring an additional 10,976 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AbbVie in the fourth quarter worth $77,000. Finally, BIP Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 2,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nicholas Donoghoe sold 21,082 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.30, for a total value of $3,716,756.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 55,903 shares in the company, valued at $9,855,698.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 52,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.71, for a total transaction of $9,184,047.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 243,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,375,512.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 383,324 shares of company stock valued at $67,780,003 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

AbbVie Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $7.67 on Friday, reaching $159.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,709,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,657,401. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $174.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.67. AbbVie Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.96 and a 52-week high of $182.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.02, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $282.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.94, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.11. AbbVie had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 162.28%. The business had revenue of $12.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AbbVie Inc. will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. AbbVie’s dividend payout ratio is currently 227.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABBV shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $188.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of AbbVie from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.43.

AbbVie Profile

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.